Update: We may have reviewed it almost 3 years ago, but housing crisis has made it onto Kickstarter - you can go back it here

Original article: I must admit, when I first played Housing Crisis I hated it; a dull theme, a cash in on the micro game craze and a strategy that plays like tic tac toe but with numbers rather than noughts and crosses. It really did not win me over. I was ready to give up on the game and write a scathing review when I tried the game with a different player, a software engineer with a more analytical mind and the entire thing clicked.

Cthulhu and World War II is an odd mix when you think about it. The horrors of war are bad enough and then our twisted imagination decides that it’s not scary enough and that we need some otherworldly beings added to the mix. It’s a recipe that has succeeded in many genres with obvious seeds in the Hellboy comics and movies and the popularity of the Achtung! Cthulhu role playing game. Emergent Games have already had success with Fireteam Zero, a tactical miniatures game that blends Lovecraftian horror with an alternative World War II but are heading back to Kickstarter for a slightly different reason to usual so I spoke to Mike Langlois from Emergent Games about Fireteam Zero’s return.

To me one of the great opportunities for Kickstarter is to bring games that already exist to new markets. MAGE Company did it this year with Höyük, bringing a popular print and play game into a published game. There’s a whole world of board games that us in the English speaking world haven’t even played and so to bring the card game Teomachie to the world Historical Games Factory and Petersen Games are heading to Kickstarter to make an English version of the card drafting game.

Usually the most controversial thing that happens in the board gaming world is the forums on Board Game Geek getting upset that their latest board game needs a mobile phone app but eight years ago Terror Bull Games courted genuine controversy when they decided to make a board game about the War on Terror. Now Terror Bull Games are back with The Hen Commandments a game where you take spiritual guidance from a chicken.

Since Dominion first hit the scene there have been a lot of deck builders. The concept of steadily building and optimising your deck of cards over the course of a single game has proven a very strong game mechanic, whether it be the primary or as a secondary system in a game. When a new deck building game hits the market it’s got to be something different, something fresh in regards to theme, mechanics and implementation. Demon Slayer: Siege of Mt. Kunlun promises something unique in its theme, based upon Chinese mythology it has something western audiences haven’t seen before.

Friends and Foes is heading towards its final few days on Kickstarter but it’s not too late to get the lowdown on the game. So I sparked up a conversation with Wylliam Judd, the designer of Friends and Foes, and we talked about the game’s development, finding the right artist and bringing MOBA elements to board games.

I was about to start this piece of news by talking about my favourite science fiction novel, where the AI overruns mankind and cripples its entire infrastructure. Then I realised this happens at the end of the book and is kind of a huge spoiler so let’s not go there. The reason I was thinking all this is because MIND: The Fall of Paradise is a board game that simulates this cataclysmic event. One player takes on the control of the power hungry AI and the rest of the players are the rebellious humans attempting to spoil its nefarious plots.

Smash Up really is a game that could go on creating expansions forever. So far we’ve seen a whole host of new factions, from cult movie and horror icons to internet funnies such as pirates vs ninjas vs dinosaurs armed with rocket launchers. I really am surprised with not seen fantasy heroes and space marines yet but give them time. Smash Up’s latest expansion sits very much in the internet meme category and its favourite colour is pink as Alderac announce Pretty Pretty Smash Up.

Friends and Foes is evoking a fantasy version of Galactic Arena, the science fiction gladiatorial combat game that we previewed a couple of months back. Galactic Arena had its issues (the biggest of all was a poorly written rulebook) but Friends and Foes appears to sideswipe these with logical card driven actions and a more straightforward ruleset. In Friends and Foes you’ll team up with a like thinking group of fantasy archetypes to kick the magic wielding, armour wearing snot out of another team of fantasy archetypes.

Warhammer 40k Conquest is a solid card game that works well with its theme but is currently lacking in card variety.

Since the release of Rogue Trader, the Warhammer 40,000 universe has spread across multiple games, rules iterations and media. From the original tabletop miniature games, to board games, video games, books and even ropey films. In Warhammer 40,000 Conquest The Card Game (to give it its full name) the grim dark future of the 41st millennium has been recreated in a customisable card game (and not for the first time I might add) but can a deck of cards truly capture the iconic characters and epic conflict of the setting?

Wednesday was Fantasy Flight Games’ LCG State of the Union address. This is where the company communicates with its LCG players and talks the current state of the game catalogue, tournaments and gives news on upcoming changes and events. The big news out of the event was a second edition of A Game of Thrones the Card Game and a change to the legality of LCG cards that can be used competitively.